Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Wednesday he is suspending Central Florida's top prosecutor Monique H. Worrell, saying she has neglected her duties as a state attorney.
It's the second time DeSantis, a Republican, has removed a Democratic state attorney and follows an investigation that began when a teenager was charged with fatally shooting a television reporter and a 9-year-old girl.
"The state of Florida is a law and order state and that means we have strong policies to hold criminals accountable for their misconduct," DeSantis said. "Prosecutors have a duty to faithfully enforce the law. One's political agenda cannot trump this solemn duty."
The governor added that refusing to do so "puts our communities in danger and victimizes innocent Floridians."
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Worrell was the state attorney for the ninth judicial circuit court for the state of Florida. She appeared in a news conference Wednesday to speak out on the governor's decision to suspend her.
"If we're mourning anything this morning, it is the loss of democracy," Worrell said. "I am your duly-elected state attorney for the ninth judicial circuit and nothing done by a weak dictator can change that."
Worrell had been elected three years ago and on Wednesday said she has lived up to everything she had promised the community.
"I didn't hide, I didn't say things and then didn't do them, I didn't say I wouldn't do things and then did them," Worrell said. "I did exactly what I said I was going to do and that is what you want from an elected official."
She went on to say that elected officials "are being taken out of office solely for political purposes and that should not be a thing."
"There used to be a very high standard for the removal of an elected official. There used to be a standard that I would've had to have been prosecuted for something, neglected my duties meaning that I didn't show up for work to do my job, or that I had some sort of illness that would have prevented me from doing my job," Worrell said. "Under this tyranny, elected officials can be removed simply for political purposes and by a whim of the governor, and no matter how you feel about me, you should not be okay with that."
DeSantis' office began investigating Worrell after 19-year-old Keith Moses was charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Spectrum News 13 reporter Dylan Lyons, Nathacha Augustin and 9-year-old T’yonna Major. The girl’s mother and Spectrum News 13 photographer Jesse Walden were also shot.
Shortly after the shooting, DeSantis' general counsel said in a letter to Worrell that she failed to hold Moses accountable despite his criminal record and gang affiliation. The governor's office sought Moses' juvenile records, which are usually protected.
In his announcement Wednesday, DeSantis cited other cases and said Worrell avoided minimum mandatory sentences on charges that included gun crimes, drug trafficking and child pornography. He also said the state attorney’s office had a pattern of letting juveniles avoid serious charges or incarceration and noted the shooting over the weekend of two Orlando police officers by a 28-year-old man with a long criminal history.
DeSantis appointed Judge Andrew Bain to take over as state attorney for the ninth judicial circuit court. According to the governor, Bain is a native Floridian serving as a judge in Orlando. An alum of the University of Miami, Bain played football and later received his law degree from Florida A&M Law School.
"I trust that he will be a prosecutor that faithfully enforces the law, and will keep the communities of Central Florida safe," DeSantis said.
The governor went on to say that Worrell's administration has been "clearly and fundamentally derelict to as to constitute both neglect of duty and incompetence.
The policies and practices listed in the executive order which constituted the grounds for suspension included:
- a pattern or practice to avoid minimum mandatory sentences for gun crimes
- a pattern or practice to avoid minimum mandatory sentences for drug trafficking offences
- a pattern or practice allowing juvenile offenders to avoid serious charges and incarceration altogether
- a pattern or practice to avoid valid or applicable sentencing enhancements
- a pattern or practice limiting charges for child pornography
- a pattern or practice of seeking withholding of adjudication and situations not permitted under Florida law
Worrell was elected in November 2020 and serves as the chief prosecutor. Monique is the second African American elected as State Attorney, and the first of Caribbean descent, according to her biography in the state attorney's website.
“It is my duty as Governor to ensure that the laws enacted by our duly elected Legislature are followed,” DeSantis said in a statement. “The people of Central Florida deserve to have a State Attorney who will seek justice in accordance with the law instead of allowing violent criminals to roam the streets and find new victims.”
The governor was joined by Attorney General Ashley Moody and Commissioner for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Mark Glass Wednesday in the Florida Capitol's cabinet room.
